1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display device having a structure for holding a display panel disposed within a cabinet.
2. Description of Related Art
A liquid crystal display device such as a liquid crystal television, that is, an example of a display device having a structure for holding a display panel within a cabinet, is characterized by its small weight and small thickness, and in a conventional liquid crystal display device, a metal frame body designated as a bezel is used for holding a rim portion of a liquid crystal panel from a front side (a side of a display face) and a plastic frame body is used for holding the rim portion of the liquid crystal panel from a rear side (a side opposite to the display face) (See Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-201364, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-215492 and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-215512). The bezel disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal panel is used for securing the strength of the liquid crystal panel in a state where it is incorporated into the liquid crystal display device as well as for securing the strength required in conveying the liquid crystal panel between factories or within a factory during the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device.
At this point, the structure of the liquid crystal display device using the metal frame body (bezel) will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 4. A diagram disposed in an upper left portion of FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a principal part of a liquid crystal display device using a bezel 15. A liquid crystal panel 1 is disposed within a plastic cabinet 2 securing the exterior and having external design, and the cabinet 2 includes a frame part 21 disposed on the front side of the bezel 15 and having an opening in the center; a peripheral part 22 connected to the outer periphery of the frame part 21 and extended in the backward direction to be disposed around the liquid crystal panel 1; and a rear part 23 connected to the peripheral part 22 so as to cover the rear side of the liquid crystal panel 1. The peripheral part 22 has a large thickness, and a front edge portion of the rear part 23 is fit in a peripheral groove formed on a rear edge side of the peripheral part 22, so as to connect the peripheral part 22 and the rear part 23 to each other. The bezel 15 has a substantially L-shaped cross section and includes a front frame part 15A disposed on the front side of the liquid crystal panel 1 for holding a front face rim portion of the liquid crystal panel 1 and a peripheral frame part 15B bent at an outer peripheral end of the front frame part 15A so as to extend in the backward direction.
A plastic frame body 4 having an L-shaped cross section is disposed on the rear side of the liquid crystal panel 1, and the frame body 4 includes a front frame part 4A holding a rear face rim portion of the liquid crystal panel 1 and a peripheral frame part 4B bent at an outer peripheral end of the front frame part 4A so as to extend in the backward direction. Furthermore, an optical sheet 11 and a backlight chassis 6 for holding backlights 10 are disposed behind the frame body 4 by using a stepped frame 7. The backlight chassis 6 is connected to and held on the peripheral part 22 of the cabinet 2 through a holding frame 9. The peripheral frame part 15B of the bezel 15 and a rear face portion of the backlight chassis 6 (or the peripheral frame part 15B of the bezel 15 and the peripheral frame part 4B of the frame body 4) are connected to each other by using coupling means such as a screw not shown, so that the rim portion of the liquid crystal panel 1 may be held from the front and rear sides by the front frame part 15A of the bezel 15 and the front frame part 4A of the frame body 4. Furthermore, a peripheral side of the liquid crystal panel 1 is covered with the peripheral frame part 15B of the bezel 15 and the peripheral frame part 4B of the frame body 4, so as to prevent adhesion on the rear face of the liquid crystal panel 1 of dust entering the cabinet through radiating holes or the like formed on the cabinet 2.
In the case where a liquid crystal panel is held to be sandwiched between frame bodies disposed in front of and behind the liquid crystal panel as in described in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-201364, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-215492 and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-215512, however, the dimension in the depth direction is increased correspondingly to a space for placing the frame bodies (their front frame parts in particular), which restricts thickness reduction of a liquid crystal display device, and furthermore, when a metal bezel is used as the front frame body, the weight is increased correspondingly to the weight of the bezel. Therefore, in order to attain a smaller thickness and a smaller weight, a liquid crystal display device in which a bezel is not used as a front frame body but a rim portion of a liquid crystal panel is directly pressed from a side of a display face by a frame part of a cabinet so as to sandwich the rim portion between the frame part and a rear frame body has been developed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2006-235425).